Belgian research on co-existence and traceability

During the period of August 2004 to July 2006 a research project entitled “Traceability and autocontrol of GMOs in the food chain” was executed at the Hogeschool Gent. The project was coordinated by professors Eeckhout and Messens, both of the food science and technology department of the Hogeschool. A report is available from the department. For more information see www.hogent.be or contact: + 32 9 242 4276.

The Hogeschool Gent is also one of the Belgian partners of the Co-Extra project, participating in two working packages within the project, WP2 and WP3. One manuscript resulting from this work has recently been accepted for publication in the journal European Food Research and Technology, entitled "Co-existence and traceability of GM and non-GM products in the feed chain".

Additionally, a doctorate student at the University of Ghent is working on a thesis on GM plants, in which co-existence is part of the study material. Several important publication have resulted from this study:

Yann Devos, Dirk Reheul and Adinda De Schrijver.The co-existence between transgenic and non-transgenic maize in the European Union: a focus on pollen flow and cross-fertilization. Environ. Biosafety Res. 4 (2005) 71-87.